The Star by Hackney Downs, 8 August 2017

Democracy reigns after the break at Drawing the Star. Its organiser, Catherine Hall offers her artists a vote on whether to go for one 30-minute pose, two of 15-minutes, a 10 and 20, or three 10-minute poses. The first to speak preferred a full half-hour, whilst others had no strong opinion, so a long pose it would be. I eyed the pile of pillows and sheets on the floor… “Don’t lay down completely,” grinned Catherine, so I settled down into an angular yet comfortable seated posture.

I noticed I was smiling almost throughout. Perfect temperature, cosy soft furnishing, a gorgeous playlist, pleasant thoughts and a challenging yet sustainable pose; I do love working at The Star by Hackney Downs. As usual, the first half had been a lot more dynamic – poses of 5-minutes, 4, 3, 2, three of 1-minute, three of 30-seconds and two of 10-minutes. Also as usual, for the minute and half-minute stuff I didn’t know exactly what shape my body would make till it rapidly rewired itself into each tense attitude.

It’s been busy here in recent weeks, but this evening was a little quieter. Nonetheless, there were some very enthusiastic newcomers plus the return of artists that Catherine had known from way back. In a moment of nostalgia, we tried to recall when we’d first worked together as tutor and model. A search of my blog revealed our collaboration in arts had begun on 3 March 2014; it still feels as fresh and enjoyable more than three years later. I’m now looking forward to drawing Esther here on Tuesday next week.